Psychological Gender Differences in Action Sports: Do Males Have a Risk-Taking Edge?

Regarding psychological gender differences In Action/'Extreme'-Sports performance:  The age-old argument of 'Nature Vs. Nurture' should be thrown out.  It is BOTH Nature and Nurture that make us so different as male vs. female athletes...as risk-takers, when we strip it down to the central psychological core.

You can train away most of the 'nurture' part by starting girls off at a very young age and by exposing them to and encouraging high-risk sports and challenges rather than Disney princess movies and tea-parties.  But you can never train away anatomical brain-gender differences.

As the level of risk goes up and the consequence of failure nears major injury or even potential death, the psychological pendulum swings toward the male brain, giving males a biological-based, advantage.  Males consider consequences less.  At that critical moment of high-risk, the male brain shouts "Go for it.  You got this.  Your buddies are watching and they already went..." without hesitation, more often than a female's brain, which more intelligently, may take another moment or two for additional risk-analysis before leaping.

You can't simply train away brain-anatomical differences.  There's not an exercise for it.  Male brains are bathed in testosterone beginning in the womb while a females' are bathed in estrogen, physically altering brain structure from the womb onward.  Men's brains have more testosterone receptors while female brains have more estrogen receptors.  Those receptors can't be switched off.  Neuro-mapping and pathways, and how we use right and left hemispheres of our brain may be altered to a degree.

Males are more 'fight or flight' while females are biologically (nature) more 'tend and mend'.  Male brains are wired to have a higher threshold of risk and be combative, while females can be more patient and nurturing. This isn't about one gender being better than the other.  There are pros and cons on both sides.  Why do you think women give birth and live longer on average, and have more social and emotional connections?  Where would I be without my wife of 19 years?  Probably dead or a surf bum on an island somewhere.

Women will always have larger Prefrontal Cortexes and smaller Amygdalas, than men -  Lower risk taking behavior and more emotionally involved, respectively.  Men will always have more testosterone than women.  This is not a negative, this is just biology.  Testosterone receptors in the male brain, may give a risk-taking edge.  We should be different and be allowed to be different, and embrace our respective gender if we choose.

There is this idealistic notion out there that females should be able to perform equally, on the same level as males in action-sports.  I don't agree, and if we are waiting for that day to happen, it may never come.  Progress in action sports has always been lead by males by a huge margin.  This does not mean that watching women extreme athletes is any less compelling or exciting.  The relative level of competition is just as intense, as is their relative rate of progression.  We must also take into account there are many more males than females participating in and competing in Action-Sports which will also widen the progression gap just by the gap in (lack of) involvement.

2013 X-Games bronze medalist, and 2013 Ladies Pro Bowl World Champion Julz Lynn (Kindstrand), above, seems to have honed her psychological fitness over many years of skating and found that critical mental edge  - that sweet spot of dopamine, Flow, clarity and adrenaline combining into present-moment magic.

Max Update: Random STUFF I've been up to...

Great interview with Trainer Nikki Espina of reActs Performance: Max Wettstein speaks with reActs Performance! - I share with Nikki my training methods, how I eat, and about coaching my daughter in surfing and skateboarding.

Beach Lifestyle shoot in Carlsbad, CA:

Preventing & Treating Skateboarding Injuries

All athletes are prone to injury.  Skateboarders are no different.  The irony is, many times skaters do not think of themselves as athletes & the classic sense, yet are sometimes more at risk given the ‘extreme’ nature of what they do.  Whether it is airing out of 10’ bowl or ollie-ing a staircase, the penalty for failure at the very least is impacting a very hard surface and coming to an abrupt halt, expressed by Newton’s law of Force = Mass x Acceleration, where the concrete always wins.  Yet many skaters, (who tend to have youth & plenty of ego on their side), do not warm-up, stretch, wear protective equipment, or cross-train with other forms of exercise, in order to improve strength, joint-integrity & flexibility.  No other elite athlete would train or compete with such personal neglect.

                Most of us skate for fun and couldn't care less about competition or elite performance – this is true.  However, no matter why you skate, getting injured SUCKS, especially if you can’t skateL

The intent here is not to sound preachy.  Skateboarding has always been about non-conforming & expressing individuality, and is certainly not considered a mainstream or conventional sport (though this perspective seems to be rapidly changing in our society).  In fact many of us came to love skateboarding because there are no coaches and no rules or because it was an outlet from ‘normal’ team sports.  Indeed skating is as much an art form as it is a sport.  This is not intended to be a political discussion, or about the obvious protective benefits of wearing helmets and pads – we wouldn’t waste your time!

This is about INCREASING longevity as skater: Taking care of your body & your joints so you can skate longer & pain-free.  Injuries are inevitable if you skate long & hard enough, but you can take steps to prevent most of them, minimize their severity and recover more quickly.  In fact, skating is an amazing full body, functional exercise, and a path to a fitter, healthier mind, body & soul.

What can you do?  Much of it you know already, especially if you ever played other conventional sports.  LISTEN to your body.  Put in the time.  Pay your dues, and your body will love you for it.  Your joints, tendons & ligaments will be STRONG when you need them to:

I Sk8

     What?  A grown-man and father...an airline Captain who skateboards?  A bit juvenile you say?  Not around these parts.  Not around SoCal, especially Encinitas California, perhaps known as the epicenter of vert & transition skating.  Did I mention my neighbors are Tony Hawk, Andy Macdonald & Cara-Beth Burnside?  Did I mention the 2003 X-Games half-pipe sk8 event was held 5 minutes from my house, the same park where Shaun White learned how to skate?  My daughter goes to school with Mike McGill's daughter.  My CPA neighbor gets his mail everyday, barefoot on his skateboard.  When we're not surfing (or working), we're skating.  Did I mention we built a wooden skate-bowl in our backyard?  Yeah, I have a really cool wife, and she skates too.  Skateboarding is pretty much a family affair and a way of life around here.  It certainly doesn't soley define us and we're not that good, but its become a passion that bonds our family together.  Actually I should speak for my self - my daughter is that good, considering her age, and I am her coach.  In fact she is ranked top 12 in the world in women's bowl-skating.  But enough about her...

     ...Why am I so ADDICTED to skating?...and yes I meant addicted:  Skating is FUN and it is full-body, functional fitness that involves the 'FLOW' psychological factor, meaning it keeps one completely immersed in the 'present moment' as it challenges just enough to heighten one's awareness & focus while still preserving fun-factor and triggering a massive surge of reward neurotransmitter dopamine.  Dopamine is the same neurotransmitter released when one indulges in chocolate or to be more explicit & literal, when cocaine is snorted, which triggers an instant flood of dopamine...lasting for about 30 minutes.